Rhapsody in Bess

The Pasadena POPS has quite the jazzy evening lined up for this Saturday. Pianist Alfredo Rodriguez, a native of Havana who was “discovered” by Quincy Jones at the Montreux Jazz Festival, will play Rhapsody in Blue. Actress and Tony-nominated vocalist Valarie Pettiford—best known perhaps for her role as Big Dee Dee Thorne on Half & Half—will sing hits like “All That Jazz,” “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore,” “Come Rain or Come Shine” and so on. And the orchestra will “paint a symphonic portrait” of Porgy and Bess, which we think means just George, no Ira or DuBose. We like George best, anyway.